Organizational Health Inventory for Elementary Schools (OHI-E)

Abstract

The Organizational Health Inventory for Elementary Schools (OHI-E) is a widely recognized psychometric instrument designed to measure the organizational climate and health of educational institutions, specifically at the elementary level. Developed by Hoy, Tarter, and Kottkamp, the OHI-E provides a comprehensive assessment across five critical dimensions that characterize a healthy school environment. These dimensions focus on the quality of principal leadership, resource acquisition, staff relations, institutional integrity, and academic focus. The scale utilizes a 37-item structure scored on a four-point Likert scale, offering researchers and practitioners a reliable tool for diagnosing areas of strength and weakness within the school’s social and structural framework.

Keywords

Organizational Health, School Climate, Elementary Education, Educational Administration, Collegial Leadership, Academic Emphasis, Institutional Integrity, Resource Influence, Teacher Affiliation, Psychometrics.

Authors

Wayne K. Hoy, Cecil J. Tarter, Robert B. Kottkamp, Anita E. Woolfolk.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the OHI-E is to quantify the level of organizational health within elementary schools. This concept moves beyond simple assessments of morale or job satisfaction to evaluate the school’s ability to function effectively, cope with external pressures, and achieve its core academic mission. By mapping the school’s functioning across distinct dimensions, the instrument helps administrators and researchers identify specific systemic issues that may impede instructional effectiveness or professional development.

The scale serves as a diagnostic tool, providing data necessary for planned organizational change. A healthy school environment, as measured by the OHI-E, is characterized by high levels of trust, strong academic focus, supportive leadership, and institutional resilience against capricious external demands. The instrument is crucial for understanding the interplay between structural components and social dynamics in achieving optimal educational outcomes.

Construct

The OHI-E operationalizes the construct of Organizational Health through five distinct, empirically derived subscales. These dimensions collectively describe the socio-cultural environment of the school, focusing heavily on the effectiveness of the administrative core and the professional relationships among teachers. The five measured constructs are:

• Institutional Integrity (II): Measures the school’s ability to protect its educational program from unreasonable community demands and pressures, maintaining its professional autonomy.
• Collegial Leadership (CL): Focuses on the principal’s behavior, specifically the degree to which leadership is supportive, open, democratic, and considerate of the faculty’s professional expertise and personal welfare.
• Resource Influence (RI): Assesses the principal’s effectiveness in obtaining necessary resources, materials, and support from superiors and the district administration.
• Teacher Affiliation (TA): Measures the sense of professional camaraderie, friendliness, and commitment among the faculty members, reflecting a cohesive and trusting staff environment.
• Academic Emphasis (AE): Evaluates the school’s collective press for high achievement, including student motivation, orderly learning environments, and the setting of high, challenging standards.

Validity

The OHI-E demonstrates strong construct validity, established through extensive factor analytic studies confirming the five-factor structure. The initial development and subsequent validation studies, such as those published by Hoy and colleagues, show that the scale dimensions relate predictably to other measures of school effectiveness and climate. For instance, high scores on the OHI-E are consistently associated with reduced teacher turnover, higher collective teacher efficacy, and improved student achievement metrics.

Furthermore, the subscales exhibit discriminant validity, meaning each factor measures a unique aspect of organizational functioning while remaining theoretically linked to the overarching concept of organizational health. The established relationship between the OHI-E scores and observable behaviors (e.g., principal openness, teacher cooperation) supports its utility as a measure of the psychological and structural reality within elementary schools.

Reliability

The OHI-E exhibits excellent internal consistency, a key measure of reliability, across all five subscales. The reported Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the original scale development are exceptionally high, indicating that the items within each subscale reliably measure the same underlying construct. The specific reliability coefficients are:

• Institutional Integrity (II): .90
• Collegial Leadership (CL): .95
• Resource Influence (RI): .89
• Teacher Affiliation (TA): .94
• Academic Emphasis (AE): .87

These coefficients demonstrate that the OHI-E is a highly stable and reliable instrument for assessing organizational health in elementary settings, confirming its suitability for both research and administrative evaluation.

Factor Analysis

The factor structure of the OHI-E was determined through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, resulting in the identification of five distinct, yet correlated, factors. The analysis confirmed that the 37 items load appropriately onto the five hypothesized dimensions: Institutional Integrity, Collegial Leadership, Resource Influence, Teacher Affiliation, and Academic Emphasis. This robust factor structure provides empirical support for the theoretical model of organizational health proposed by the authors, distinguishing between different aspects of school functioning, from leadership quality to faculty relationships and instructional focus.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Inventory / Organizational Climate Scale

Format: 37 items rated on a 4-point Likert scale.

Language Available: English (Primary).

Population Group: Educational Staff (Teachers/Faculty).

Age Group: Adults (Teachers).

Population Details: Teachers and staff working within elementary school settings.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate the frequency with which specific behaviors or conditions occur in their school environment, ranging from 1 (rarely occurs) to 4 (very frequently occurs). Reverse scoring is applied to eight specific items to ensure consistency in scale directionality.

Keywords

Organizational Development, School Improvement, Educational Research, Leadership Assessment, Teacher Efficacy, Organizational Behavior, School Administration, Psychometric Test.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content; typically associated with Dr. Wayne K. Hoy and colleagues.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence is typically handled through the affiliated university departments of the authors (e.g., Educational Administration).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The foundational research and development of the OHI-E were published in 1991. The instrument is often made available for academic research and non-commercial educational use by the primary author, W. K. Hoy, via his official website. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.waynekhoy.com/pdfs/ohi-e.pdf.

Reference’s

The following academic works provide the foundational context and empirical validation for the Organizational Health Inventory for Elementary Schools (OHI-E):

• Hoy, W. K., Tarter, C. J., & Kottkamp, R. B. (1991). Open schools/healthy schools: Measuring organizational climate. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
• Hoy, W. K., & Tarter, C. J. (1997). The road to open and healthy schools: A handbook for change, Elementary Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
• Hoy, W. K., & Woolfolk, A. E. (1990). Organizational socialization of student teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 27, 279-300.
• Hoy, W.K., & Woolfolk, A.E. (1993). Teachers’ sense of efficacy and the organizational health of schools. Elementary School Journal, 93(4), 355-372.

Items of the Organizational Health Inventory for Elementary Schools (OHI-E)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. The principal explores all sides of topics and admits that other options exist.
2. The principal gets what he or she asks for from superiors.
3. The principal discusses classroom issues with teachers.
4. The principal accepts questions without appearing to snub or quash the teacher.
5. Extra materials are available if requested.
6. Students neglect to complete homework.
7. Students are cooperative during classroom instruction.
8. The school is vulnerable to outside pressures.
9. The principal is able to influence the actions of his or her superiors.
10. The principal treats all faculty members as his or her equal.
11. The principal goes out of his or her way to show appreciation to teachers.
12. Teachers are provided with adequate materials for their classrooms.
13. Teachers in this school like each other.
14. Community demands are accepted even when they are not consistent with the educational program.
15. The principal lets faculty know what is expected of them.
16. Teachers receive necessary classroom supplies.
17. The principal conducts meaningful evaluations.
18. Students respect others who get good grades.
19. Teachers feel pressure from the community.
20. The principal’s recommendations are given serious consideration by his or her superiors.
21. The principal maintains definite standards of performance.
22. Supplementary materials are available for classroom use.
23. Teachers exhibit friendliness to each other.
24. Students seek extra work so they can get good grades.
25. se‎lect citizen groups are influential with the board.
26. The principal looks out for the personal welfare of faculty members.
27. Teachers express pride in their school.
28. Teachers identify with the school.
29. The school is open to the whims of the public.
30. A few vocal parents can change school policy.
31. Students try hard to improve on previous work.
32. Teachers accomplish their jobs with enthusiasm.
33. The learning environment is orderly and serious.
34. The principal is friendly and approachable.
35. There is a feeling of trust and confidence among the staff.
36. Teachers show commitment to their students.
37. Teachers are indifferent to each other.

Scoring and Response Format:

Responses are scored on a four-point Likert scale:

• 1 = rarely occurs
• 2 = SOMETIMES occurs
• 3 = OFTEN occurs
• 4 = very frequently occurs

Reverse Scored Items: Items 6, 8, 14, 19, 25, 29, 30, 37 are reverse scored.

Subscale Calculations:

• Institutional Integrity (II) = Items 8 + 14 + 19 + 25 + 29 + 30
• Collegial Leadership (CL) = Items 1 + 3 + 4 + 10 + 11 + 15 + 17 + 21 + 26 + 34
• Resource Influence (RI) = Items 2 + 5 + 9 + 12 + 16 + 20 + 22
• Teacher Affiliation (TA) = Items 13 + 23 + 27 + 28 + 32 + 33 + 35 + 36 + 37
• Academic Emphasis (AE) = Items 6 + 7 + 18 + 24 + 31